Irma Thomas' Rounder Heritage Retrospective

Irma Thomas' career was elevated from being a regional New Orleans treasure to an artist that received national and international recognition when she signed to Rounder Records. In 2000, Rounder celebrated its 30th Anniversary with the Rounder Heritage Series. One of the releases was devoted to her recordings for the label. This review originally appeared in the July/August 2001 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 252), although i have made minor changes. There are more recent compilations of Irma's work, including one that spans her half century career. This release is available as a download.

The Soul Queen of New Orleans, Irma Thomas has had a substantial and rewarding career since she signed with Rounder in the mid-1980s. A recent addition to the Rounder Heritage series celebrating the label’s 30th anniversary is If You Want It Come and Get It, a collection of 16 performances collected from six of the eight albums she has recorded for Rounder, including the collaboration with Marcia Ball and Tracey Nelson, Sing It! No tracks are included from her live album and also there are no tracks from her gospel album. 

What stands out is the consistency and high level of her vocals. She is a warm singer who can belt it, but raises the roof mostly to accent the lyrics. Producer Scott Billington has constantly sought out choice new material along with finding lesser known gems, and she can tear into a soul ballad like Love of My Man as well as a rocking The New Rules, dealing with the new male-female relationships. 

A wonderful singer she adds her own voice to songs associated with others, even with her straight reading of the Bobby Bland classic, Yield Not to Temptation, from the Sing It! album. Love Don’t Change is a previously unissued track from the sessions for that album. The rendition of the title track is an extended performance of the track from her Handy-Award winning album My Heart’s in Memphis. The later tune was co-written by Dan Penn, one of several songwriters who have brought material to producer Scott Billington over the years. The late Doc Pomus and Mac Rebennack (Dr. John) contributed I Never Fool Nobody But Me, with a nice New Orleans R&B piano backing from David Torkanowsky. 

Add some of the finest Crescent City and Memphis musicians such as drummer Herman Ernest, organist Sammy Berfect, bassist George Porter, guitarists Michael Toles, and Renard Poché and saxophonists Foots Samuel and Red Tyler, and it is not surprising that Ms Thomas has produced some extremely fine recordings for Rounder which are well sampled here.

James Booker's Classified: Remixed And Expanded

James Carroll Booker, that genius of New Orleans piano tradition, passed some 30 years ago on November 8, 1983, several months after Rounder issued his final studio recording Classified. Rounder has just issued an expanded version Classified: Remixed And Expanded to celebrate the Thirtieth Anniversary of the original release of along with a documentary about Booker, Bayou Maharajah: The Tragic Genius of James Booker. This new expanded Classified adds alternate takes and previously unissued recordings from the October 1982 sessions that produced the original LP.

Booker is a revered figure in the history of New Orleans music who incorporated the inventions of Professor Longhair into his repertoire that ranged from boogie blues, New Orleans R&B, jazz and classical. His legacy as a pianist, vocalist and songwriter shines even brighter three decades later. His influence is heard in such performers as Dr. John, Harry Connick Jr., Tom McDermott, John Boutté and Henry Butler. Booker played on a number of studio recordings in addition to ones he made under his own name (he is on keyboards on Freddie King’s Cotillion Recordings for example). In the booklet accompanying this reissue we get Scott Billington’s essay in addition to Bunny Matthews original 1983 notes. Billington’s essay provides this overview and cites a number of those who might be called Booker’s musical children.

To use a term associated with Duke Ellington, Booker was “Beyond Category.” The depth of his repertoire is suggested by the performances here including the opening signature title tune that opens this compilation which opens with some nice solo playing before joined by a small backing trio that included legendary tenor saxophonist, Alvin ‘Red’ Tyler. The contents of this include a Professor Longhair medley, two takes on Lloyd Price’s Lawdy Miss Clawdy (one of which is solo), Warsaw Concerto (which explains why he was sometimes called the Bronze Liberace and along with Madame X displays how accomplished he was a s pianist of classical music), a medley of Tico Tico / Papa Was a Rascal / So Swell When You're Well, (and this last number was one Aretha recorded), his solo piano reworking of Little Willie John’s Hit All Around the World, a manic vocal on King of the Road, the classic Art Neville ballad, All the Things You Are, and “Yes Sir, That's My Baby,” the one selection on which he plays the organ (with the sounding like he is playing a calliope for a carousel). This last track is one of the several with Red Tyler’s saxophone. Among these selections, a highlight is the Fats Domino flavored, One For the Highway, again with Red Tyler taking a choice tenor solo.

Thirty years after being originally released, Classified remains as a cornerstone of James Booker’s recorded legacy. His genius is well served by this well thought out and expanded reissue.

I received my review copy from Rounder Records. Here is a trailer for the film documentary, Bayou Maharajah: The Tragic Genius of James Booker.

RIp June Gardner 1930-2010

2008-0425_JazzFest_Day_1-1014, originally uploaded by NoVARon.

Word came out today that New Orleans drummer Albert "Gentleman June" Gardner passed away on November 19 at the age of 79. Gardner was just one of the many great drummers to come out of the Crescent City,

According to Geraldine Wyckoff in her article in the November 22, 2010 Louisiana Weekly "Gardner studied with the influential Professor Valmont Victor and first hit the road with vocalist Lil Green. When he returned to New Orleans he became a regular at the now-infamous Dew Drop Inn playing with Edgar Blanchard & the Gondoliers with whom he also recorded. In his younger days, Gardner was heavily on the rhythm and blues scene both in the studio and on tour. He played and recorded with the greats including spending nine years with Roy "Good Rockin' Tonight" Brown and hitting the drums behind the legendary Sam Cooke from 1960 until the vocalist's death in 1964. It's Gardner laying down the essential rhythm on Lee Dorsey's smash hit "Working in a Coal Mine" and he also performed regularly with Dave Bartho­lomew's band."

It is also Gardner heard behind Sam Cooke on Cooke's two live albums, "At the Copa" and "Live at the Harlem Square Club." He joined Cooke, replacing another New Orleans drummer Leo Morris (a/k/a Idris Muhammad). After Cooke's death he returned to New Orleans and worked on a number of sessions as a leader. According to Dan Phillips' blog, Home of the Groove, only two singles were released under his name. "99 Plus One”/”Mustard Greens” first came out on Hot Line, one of the NOLA family of labels, but was licensed to Blue Rock when distribution problems arose."

Phillips had this to say about June:
"Gentleman June, as he was sometimes called, could play straight or make it funky, as the situation required. His groove versatility I am sure is why Cooke kept him in his band. I’ve chosen his composition, “Mustard Greens”, for the unusual, proto-funk stick and foot work Gardner demonstrates. On top, the song has a quasi-Latin big band arrangement by producer Wardell Quezergue."

A full CD of these sessions was issued on Tuff City/Night Train CD compilation, 99 Plus One which the Louisiana Music Factory has for sale.

He was an extremely versatile musician, whether anchoring his traditional New Orleans jazz band "The Fellas" on Bourbon Street or at JazzFest, or playing with Lionel Hampton or Alvin Tyler. I saw him at JazzFest in 2008 in the Economy Tent and this past May at Irvin Mayfield's Playhouse as part of a band led by pianist David Torkanowsky and featuring vocalist Germain Bazzle.

He is someone you may not have heard of, but you likely are to have heard.

Here is the link to the Home of the Groove blog entry on him from 2005

Here is the link to Geraldine Wyckoff's obituary of June Gardner: =

And wwoz has a short obit on Gardner: